Deep Breaths
by ProLazy
Summary: Prompt: When Castiel suffers an asthma attack because of some bullies, Dean urges to protect his boyfriend. High-School AU.
It was lunchtime and Castiel was waiting by the bleachers for Dean, who was in the changing rooms after his gym class.

He sat down on one of the benches, feeling nervous about the crowd of familiar boys who kept smirking at him and laughing. Castiel tried to ignore them, but Alastair and his gang had always taken great pleasure in harassing him.

He hung his head and fidgeted with the straps of his bag as he silently willed Dean to hurry up.

"Hey, Asstiel!"

Castiel looked up with wide eyes and was horrified to see that Alastair was walking over, two of his cronies trailing behind him.

All three of them had cigarettes and when Alastair stopped in front of Castiel he made a point of expelling a load of smoke directly into the smaller teen's face.

Castiel coughed harshly and tried to wave it away with his hand.

"Don't be so uptight" Alastair said mockingly as he took another drag of the cigarette. "It's supposed to help you relax."

He exhaled and Castiel was consumed in another cloud of toxins.

"P-Please, st-stop" Castiel wheezed between more coughs which made his chest rattle.

"Mmm...No" Alastair replied, uncaring as both he and his followers continued to torment Castiel.

Castiel tried to get up so that he could move away, but he suddenly felt very dizzy and fell back down. He couldn't stop coughing and his chest was starting to feel tight. On top of that he started panicking; he was on the verge of an asthma attack and he desperately wanted Dean.

When Castiel started to feel like he couldn't breathe he fell to his knees and clutched at his chest with a shaky hand. He needed his inhaler or else he was going to pass out.

Alastair and his goons quickly scampered away; not knowing what was happening and wanting to avoid getting into trouble.

Castiel's vision was starting to go spotty and he knew he didn't have much more time. He struggled to open his bag which had fallen beside him, but he was in too much pain.

"Cas!" A voice called out from nearby.

He looked up and could just about make out his boyfriend, Dean, sprinting towards him.

Dean skidded to the ground near Castiel and ripped the smaller teen's bag open.

"Hold on, baby. Please, just hold on" he urged as he frantically rummaged around until he found Castiel's inhaler.

He pulled Castiel up into a sitting position and placed the inhaler into the smaller teen's mouth before pressing down on it.

Castiel inhaled deeply and it felt like the squeezing pressure in his chest was finally starting to loosen.

"That's it, Angel" Dean said softly as he delicately ran his free hand through Castiel's hair in a soothing motion. "You're doing awesome."

Castiel finally felt well enough to remove the inhaler and so gently pushed Dean's hand away.

"Thank you" he said weakly as he fell against Dean's chest.

"It's okay" Dean replied. He kissed the top of Castiel's head and wrapped his arms around him in a protective embrace. "Never do that again."

"Alright."

"What happened anyway to trigger your asthma like that?"

Castiel didn't know if he should reply honestly. Dean would only want to go after Alastair, and that could end up with him getting hurt.

"Cas?" Dean repeated with a concerned frown after the smaller teen took too long to reply.

Castiel sighed and closed his eyes. He supposed there was no point in hiding it; Dean always said he was a horrible liar.

"It was Alastair" he confessed. Dean's grip on him tightened. "He kept blowing cigarette smoke in my face."

"I'll kill him" Dean seethed. "I swear to God I'll-"

"Dean, please" Castiel said. He sat up and pressed his lips against his boyfriend's. "I don't want you to get in trouble."

"It'd be worth it" Dean grumbled.

He looked down at Castiel's wide and pleading eyes and sighed deeply.

"Okay" he conceded. "But if he ever tries something like that again I will kick his ass into next week."

"Alright" Castiel agreed as he knew it would make his boyfriend feel better.

"C'mon" Dean said as helped Castiel to his feet. "Let's get something to eat."

* * *

As they walked to the cafeteria hand in hand, Castiel felt a lot better and safer just from having Dean at his side.

However, when he heard Alastair call out to him as they passed by the lockers, an awfully familiar sense of fear began to grip him.

"For someone who thinks he's so smart you'd think he'd be able to do something as simple as remembering how to breathe!"

Castiel had to grip Dean's hand harshly and it took all of his strength to stop the taller teen from running over to them.

"Dean, leave it."

"I said the next time, Cas."

"I know, but-"

"Make sure your dog doesn't start to drag you along" Alastair laughed. "Trying to keep up with him might kill you."

"That's it!" Dean yelled as managed to break away from Castiel.

He hurtled towards Alastair and tackled him to the ground.

"Don't come near my boyfriend again!" Dean shouted as he punched Alastair across the face. "Or else I'll take those cigarettes and shove them up your-"

"Mr Winchester!" One of the teachers arrived and pulled Dean off of Alastair. "Principal's office. Now!"

Dean ripped himself out of the teacher's grip and glared at Alastair who immediately scuttled off after being humiliated.

Castiel hurried to Dean's side.

"Dean, you shouldn't have done that."

"Cas, I love you. There's no way in hell I'm going to let anyone talk about you like that."

Castiel couldn't help but give a small smile at that. He hugged Dean tightly.

"I'll explain to the Principal what happened" he said. "Hopefully you'll just get a detention."

"Will you wait for me?" Dean asked melodramatically, as if he were going to prison.

"You know I will" Castiel replied with a slightly amused smile. He hopped up and briefly pressed their lips together. "There will never be anyone else."


End file.
